Abu Dhabi signs PPP agreements worth $14m

A rendering of the $9.8m market in Mohammed bin Zayed City [image: WAM].

Published: 7 August 2018 - 12:23 a.m.

By: Oscar Rousseau

Two public-private partnership (PPP) contracts worth $13.9m (51.3m) have been awarded by Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM) for the construction of a service station and a market.

UAE firm Tristar Engineering and Construction Company won a $9.8m (AED30m) contract to build the 12.3ha community market in Mohammed bin Zayed City.

Florida Property Development Company will build a $4.1m (AED15.3m) service station in Al Shawamekh city that will provide car repairs, carpentry, and a range of household maintenance services.

Both developments will be built in collaboration between the public and private sector.

Located in Sector Z-23 of Mohammed bin Zayed City, Abu Dhabi, the community market will have numerous shops, facilities, and government booths for residential districts, and a total floor area of more than 13,000m², according to WAM.

A musataha (build-operate-transfer) agreement was signed to cover a 30-year period for the project, with the deal due to take effect two years after construction starts. While a construction timeline is yet to be revealed, ADM said it hoped to open the market in Q4 2020.

Like the market, the service station in Abu Dhabi's Al Shawamekh suburb has a 30-year Musataha agreement. Once built in 2023, it will become a local hub for plumbing, electricity, and air conditioning services, plus mechanical work. Construction is expected to take no more than 36 months.

Saif Badr Al Qubaisi, ADM's general manager, said the duo of deals will "step up the development drive and add to the new projects needed for delivering modern services to the community". He noted that the agreements with Tristar and Florida Property Development Company reinforced the municipality's mission to bolster "cooperation with the private sector".

He added: "The partnership relationships with the private sector will contribute to the improvement of the attractive investment climate and the growth rates envisioned by the Abu Dhabi government."

Al Qubaisi revealed that the municipality would continuing to attract investment from the private sector to help fund construction of infrastructure and leisure projects.

Earlier this year, ADM signed $24m (AED87m) worth of contracts to build social infrastructure projects, including three playgrounds, a sports centre, and four service stations. These contracts were signed as part of growing collaboration with the private sector.